I can get through a deadbolt in about 15-30 seconds with a good set, using a small screwdriver as a turning tool and a "bobby pin" as the pick not much longer.

They have there uses espescially if you are like me and are constantly locking yourself out of the house. I won $50 bucks from my uncle who had built a steel safe for his guns and used dead bolts as the locking devices. The bet was, using a set of pics I have since lost, I could enter his locked house, open his safe, and exit with at least 4 rifles in less than 5 minutes. Not a realistic burgler situation I assume but he did "wake up" and realize his vulnerability.

It is good enough in Texas, if they find that in your vehicle and want to do a more thorough search of the vehicle and questioning of you!

I deal with these matters on a monthly basis in Dallas County Criminal Courts, where if they stop someone for just about anything and find anything that can be reasonably labeled 'burglary tools' they will give you the ride downtown!

If we can link it to a burglary, then it becomes a "Criminal Instrument" and an additional charge. Used that with spark plug ceramics on a car burglar, once.

Well, now you're just talking about anecdotes, the same as I am!

If they can link anything in your car to a crime, yeah, you get charged with that, as well!

Now, I sincerely doubt that Jarhead_22 has anything at all to worry about in Dallas, but if he were 10 years younger, or of a different race, I would seriously urge him not to have lock picks in his glove compartment!

Originally Posted By natez:I would advise anyone, regardless of race or gender (though young males, race irrespective, seem to be the majority of troublemakers), not to carry around bolt cutters, spark plug ceramics, crow bars, sledges, slim jims, lock picks and other such items, unless they have a real good explanation that a cop would believe on the side of the road a two in the morning.

No, it isn't illegal to own or carry any of that stuff, but WHY on earth would you? Sure you have a RIGHT even to own and carry that stuff, but the hassle it could cause you isn't worth it, in most cases, without a good reason to do so. I carry a set of lock picks (as previously mentioned), but I do have a good explanation, and they are stored with DDs, heavy body armor, night-vision and a host of like-minded work implements for more serious "social engagements." My explanation would wash. The problems really arise when you have some of that stuff in your car, its two in the morning, in a high-crime or business area, the cops have stopped you, and you DON'T have a reasonable explanation. Chapter 14 gives us some leeway on this type of circumstance, and most veterans lean towards the handcuffs on these sorts.

Originally Posted By Crookshanks:Everything you need to know, for a promising career in lockpicking.Clear concise instructions, step by step guide, easy to understand drawings, learn at your own speed.www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/mit-guide.html

Originally Posted By Valkyrie:I can get through a deadbolt in about 15-30 seconds with a good set, using a small screwdriver as a turning tool and a "bobby pin" as the pick not much longer.

ROFLMAO. I've been a full-time professional locksmith for 19 years, and I see this bullshit all the time. Give me a fuckin' break. That's a helluva lot better than my average time. Most people who make these outlandish boasts, can't even pick their fucking nose.

ROFLMAO. I've been a full-time professional locksmith for 19 years, and I see this bullshit all the time. Give me a fuckin' break. That's a helluva lot better than my average time. Most people who make these outlandish boasts, can't even pick their fucking nose.

Nice!!!

I carry a pick set and an electric pick for work. I've opened exactly 4 doors in the 5 months I've used them. One was by leaning on the door while I was picking and the jam shifted, one was a cheap safe, one was a lock-in-knob on an old trailer, and one I kicked in chasing a guy who ran into his house and locked the door.

Originally Posted By Valkyrie:I can get through a deadbolt in about 15-30 seconds with a good set, using a small screwdriver as a turning tool and a "bobby pin" as the pick not much longer.

ROFLMAO. I've been a full-time professional locksmith for 19 years, and I see this bullshit all the time. Give me a fuckin' break. That's a helluva lot better than my average time. Most people who make these outlandish boasts, can't even pick their fucking nose.

You would be surprised what a kid with a lot of time on their hands and a keen brain can do. Laugh if you must and maybe the quality of the ones I've gotten through is substandard but I just came into my apt deadbolt and doorknob set last Saturday night in a few minutes and I used a peice of wire from a UG marking flag and the end of pocket knife as the turning tool to keep the tumblers in place. The maintenace guy lives at another complex and I had no cell on me, it was pretty late and the wife was working. Just because it doesn't happen to you doesn't mean it doesn't happen! As for being a proffesional with lengthy experience, I am sure you are more authoritative than I by far BUT it has been my experience in most aspects of life that there are many things that defy your rationale of experience and training. Just because you do something for a long time doesn't mean that there isn't some novice that can't do it faster, cheaper, cleaner , longer, etc.

I was a simple punk kid that was doing this stuff as a teenager. Deadbolts, desk drawers and cheap locks are all I can do but I can get through them pretty quick, especially loose, worn, and old ones. As Jack Palance would say..."Believe it, or not!"

Originally Posted By rfb45colt:... I've been a full-time professional locksmith for 19 years, ....Most people who make these outlandish boasts, can't even pick their fucking nose.

LOL

My dad is a lock rep for 20+ years and picks all the time. I agree, 85% luck!! He had a lockset he had been picking on for YEARS with regular picks and couldn't open it. One if the guys he was training lifts it up and picks it, first time. My dad still couldn't pick it, finally threw it away.

The pick guns that bounce the pins are rather clever and quicker IMHO.

Originally Posted By natez:I am not doubting that there is lots of strange stuff in people's vehicles, and that there aren't good reasons for everything in your cars/trucks/urban assault vehicles. When I was a street guy, my patrol car had just about every conceivable thing I could cram into the trunk, glove box, passenger seat, behind the spare and anywhere else, because I like being PREPARED, and I fully understand that others share that admirable trait. My current load out in the unmarked runs more heavily towards the surveillance/tactical side of things, with little emphasis on the service end (though I do keep all of my traffic accident paperwork and a ticket book, just in case).

STOP the bus!! I don't see teddey bears, OR dolls in that list!!!

I have searched enough cars to have seen many, many very strange things. One of the best was a lady who was carrying around poster-sized Hustler-quality nude photos of herself in the trunk of her car (they must have been 10 years old, and she was pretty HOT back then, before the drugs took hold). The worst don't bear mentioning in polite company (or around you guys, either).

It is just that trying to explain the suspected "burglary tools" to a beat cop at two in the morning may not make being prepared worth the hassle, sometimes.

I think that "super-lock picker" claims are pretty funny, too, when the locksmith who taught our lock-picking class said that after doing it for 20-some years, it was STILL about 85% luck. Like I said, I suck at it, but I am practicing.

Yes and yes. As a mechanic I own a set of 'master keys' and various picks for most vehicle door and ignition locks. I wouldn't call them traditional lock picks in acriminal sense but they do the same thing, only much faster. I've only used them on a few cars because I have a different method to get in, however they are extremely easy to use. They work almost like a regular key. I also keep a slim jim in my car for lock outs but it is sloppy and crude in comparison to my preferred method of entry.